


Mrs. Okumura

by Agama_agama



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Gen, haru is sad, haru's childhood, her mother is a sex worker it's just never directly stated, i'M SAD, implied sex work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 08:14:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20945165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agama_agama/pseuds/Agama_agama
Summary: Haru wonders about her mother, and digs up some old, strange memories.





	Mrs. Okumura

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly didn't know how to tag this, it's just an idea I had a while ago and decided to write out. They really never say anything about her mother in-game, do they?

Haru remembered a small room. 

It was small, but it was hers- the woman slept on a futon in the living room.

Who was that woman? She taught Haru to walk and talk when she was home- she was out a lot, and she wouldn't tell Haru where she was, only that it was her job. 

She loved Haru- sometimes she would come home with a new toy for her on those nights where there was nothing to eat but rationed packets of instant ramen. She brought her out to the park or to festivals when she wasn't "working".

Once, at the park, they ran into a man who Haru would later realize was drunk. He fought with the woman and called her a couple of awful names. She stayed in for the next few days, waiting for the bruise to heal. But she cooked and played with Haru during that time; it was nice. 

Who was that woman?

All the memories came back the first time she saw Ann Takamaki's face. It wasn't that they looked alike- just that seeing someone who was a little bit non-Japanese reminded her of that woman. Her hair was a little lighter and her skin a little darker than most of the people she saw in school every day. She could pass for a native Japanese woman, probably, if it wasn't for her nose and her curly hair. (Haru was actually questioned about her hair sometimes, but it was naturally curly- Joker was a confirmation that some Japanese people were just like that. She did dye it, though.)

She remembered looking at schools with the woman. She said she couldn't afford to send Haru to anywhere that was too nice. (Why was she paying for Haru's school? Wouldn't Father have done that?) They found an elementary school outside the city. The woman was worried about how old the building looked, but there were pictures of kids tending the gardens outside on the school's website. Haru liked plants- she never really got to see them in the part of town she and the woman lived. 

Around a week later, father showed up with two other men. They were all dressed nicer than anyone Haru had ever seen. Shr couldn't really hear what they were saying, but they were arguing about something. There was a lot of yelling- both from Father and the woman- and eventually she went into Haru's room, grabbed her hand, and walked her outside to where Father was. He looked at her and then back at the woman. 

"Haru?" he said. 

The woman nodded. "After my mother."

"I believe she's too old to change it now, sir," said one of the men Father had entered the apartment with. Haru liked her name, though- is that what they wanted to change? Why?

Father sighed. "It will be fine, I suppose. Haru's good enough."

Father took Haru's hand and led her out of the apartment. She stared at the woman until she couldn't see her anymore- she was clutching a piece of paper and smiling, but she had tears in her eyes as she waved goodbye to Haru. 

Haru was scared- she didn't understand what was happening. She barely understood that the man who had taken her away was her father. Even though the first room she saw in the new house was twice as big as the entirety of her old apartment, she could only wonder when she could go back home. 

Over the next few weeks, Haru and father talked about the school she would be going to. It looked newer and a lot bigger than the one she had picked out with the woman. There was no garden. 

The thing she had the clearest memory of was "You will adress yourself as Haru Okumura." She must have heard the phrase a thousand times. What else would she possibly adress herself as? 

The first day she walked into that classroom and proclaimed that she was Okumura Haru was the day her new life started. She never saw that woman or that apartment again. 

\---

Haru always waited until Father was off the phone. She had heard "What have I told you about interrupting me?" enough times to understand it. He finished his conversation, wrote something down, and looked at his daughter standing in the doorway to his office. "Yes, Haru, what would you like?"

She asked him about the small room she remembered. He sighed.

"I don't understand what you mean- you've always lived here. Are you here to tell me about a bad dream like a child?"

She turned around without saying a word, but turned back before actually walking away. 

"Father, who was my mother?"

He looked down and closed his eyes like he was staving off a headache. "You know what the answer is. Please leave me to my work."

She knew the answer he always told her. Her mother had left or died shortly after Haru was born. He was bitter about it- he couldn't even bring himself to say her name. For some reason, Haru had never wanted to question this mysterious, faceless woman her father told her stories about. She was a rich socialite from the upper eschelons of Tokyo society. She was conveniently worthy to carry the heiress to the Okumura Foods name.

Looking at her father's dour expression before she turned and left, she remembered one more thing about the mysterious woman in the old apartment:

Her mother's default expression was a smile.


End file.
